Ocean
exploration will be the theme of the 29th NOAA Science Advisory Board
meeting to be held in Mystic, Conn., Aug. 22 and 23. During the two-day
meeting, retired Navy Vice Admiral Conrad
Lautenbacher, Ph.D., undersecretary of commerce for oceans and
atmosphere and NOAA administrator will participate in discussions
that include the merger of NOAA’s ocean exploration and undersea
research programs, updates to climate observation and analysis activities,
and reports on hurricane intensity research.

The Science Advisory Board is the only federal advisory committee
with responsibility to advise the under secretary of commerce for
oceans and atmosphere on long and short-range strategies for research,
education and the application of science to resource management and
environmental assessment and prediction. The board meets three times
a year to directly interact with NOAA leadership, advise NOAA on critical
issues, and learn about important science-related activities within
NOAA.

The
meeting will be located at the Mystic Hilton Hotel, 20 Coogan Blvd,
Mystic, Conn., and will be open to the public Aug. 22, with registration
beginning at 10:00 a.m. and meeting adjournment at 3:45 p.m. On Aug.
23, registration will begin at 8:30 a.m. and meetings will adjourn
at 3:00 p.m. There will be an opportunity for public comment from
3:15-3:45 p.m. on Aug 22.

Meeting
highlights include NOAA’s activities in ocean exploration with
discussions on extended continental shelf exploration, exploration
of New England seamounts, and the results of the board’s Ocean
Exploration Advisory Working Group workshop on planning for the maiden
voyage of the Okeanos
Explorer—the only U.S. government ship dedicated to
exploring Earth’s oceans.

The
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, an agency of the
U.S. Commerce Department, is
celebrating 200 years
of science and service to the nation. From the establishment of
the Survey of the Coast in 1807 by Thomas Jefferson to the formation
of the Weather Bureau and the Commission of Fish and Fisheries in
the 1870s, much of America's scientific heritage is rooted in NOAA.

NOAA
is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through
the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events
and information service delivery for transportation, and by providing
environmental stewardship of our nation's coastal and marine resources.
Through the emerging Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS),
NOAA is working with its federal partners, more than 70 countries
and the European Commission to develop a global monitoring network
that is as integrated as the planet it observes, predicts and protects.